Toilet seat appliance



June 14, 1932. J J BUKOWTZ 1,863,295

TOILET SEAT APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 12. 1951 Patented June 14, 1932 UNITED STATES JOSEPH J. BUKOVITZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS TOILET SEAT APPLIANCE Application filed February 12, 1931.

This invention relates to toilet seat appliances and refers particularly to the provision of means whereby a toilet seat and/0r cover may be raised or lowered, as desired, by raising or depressing a lever which in turn actuates suitable mechanism associated with the seat and/ or cover.

The utility, objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawing and following detail description.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a toilet bowl or basin provided with seat operating mechanism embodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the housing shown in Figs. 2 and 3 with the cover removed.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the seat connecting lug.

Fig. 6 is a slightly modified form of lever which may be used in conjunction with my invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 1 indi cates a. toilet bowl or basin having a suitable base 2 positioned upon the toilet or lavatory floor 3. A pipe 4 may connect into the bowl 1 to deliver water thereinto for flushing purposes. Lugs 5 may be mounted in the usual manner upon the upper portion of the bowl 1 and may be pivotally connected to the ends of brackets 6 which, in turn, may be suitably mounted upon a toilet seat 7. A cover for said seat (not shown) may be provided and may be raised or lowered with said seat in a manner Which will hereinafter be more fully described.

Toilet bowls or basins have acquired a secondary use, that is, they are used for the disposal of waste matter such as tea leaves, coffee grounds, and other waste matter in liquid condition. This practice, although not recommended by plumbing manufacturers nevertheless exists, and will probably continue to exist. To dispose of waste matter of this kind the busy housekeeper oftentimes finds Serial No. 515,248.

it inconvenient to raise the seat by the use of the hands and consequently the liquid waste material is poured through the hole in the seat. The seat is often wet by such operation rendering the same uncomfortable and unsanitary for subsequent users. Consequently I have provided a means for raising or lowering the seat in a convenient manner which will be hereinafter fully described.

The reference numeral 8 indicates a housing or the like which may be mounted upon the floor 3 by any suitable retaining means such as screws 9. The housing 8 may be of hollow construction and may be provided with a removable closure 10 maintained in position upon said housing by means of bolts or the like 11. A shaft 12 may be rotatably mounted within the housing 8 and may project outwardly from the lateral wall of the housing as shown best at 13 in Fig. 2.

The intermediate portion of the shaft 12 may be provided with a slot 14 into which one end of a spring 15 may be inserted. The opposite end of the spring may be bent as shown best at 16 in Fig. 4 to engage one of a plurality of lugs 17 disposed within housing 8. It can readily be seen that by this arrangement a force of rotation may be imparted to the shaft 12 and said force may be regulated as to magnitude by changing the tension of the spring 15 by positioning its end upon any one of the lugs 17.

It is to be understood, of course, that my invention is not specifically limited to the use of a coil spring inasmuch as a leaf or blade spring may be used, or a torsion spring may be op-eratively connected to the shaft 12. It is also to be understood that the means for regulating the tension of the spring may take any desirable form.

A lever 18 may be mounted at one end upon the projecting end 13 of the shaft 12, the op posite end of said lever being provided with a suitable platform or pedal like element 19.

In utilizing my invention the housing 8 may be mounted upon the floor 3 adjacent the base 2 of the bowl or basin 1. A lug 20 may be mounted upon the lower side of the seat 7 and may be provided with a downwardly projecting end 21, which in turn may be slotted as shown best at 22 in Fig. 5. A link 23 at one end may be piv-otally connected to an intermediate portion of the lever 18 and at the other may be connected to the downwardly projecting end of the lug 20. Each end of the link 23 may be provided with a clevis 2 1, the arrangement being such that the effective length of the link 23 may be varied by the rotation of each or either of the clevises.

A plate 25 may be mounted upon the front portion of the housing 8 by means of screws or the like 26, said plate being provided with a slot 27 which may serve as a guide for the upward and downward movement of the lever 18. A shoulder 28 may be provided adjacent one side of the slot 27 near the lower end of may be so mounted with respect to the shaft 12 as to tend to rotate said shaft in a clockwise direction. In other words, sald spring tends to normally dispose the seat 7 in upraised position. To lower said seat the lever 18 may be depressed by the foot until the seat occupies a substantially horizontal position. The lever may then be displaced laterally beneath the projection 29 until the upper portion of said lever occupies a position immediately beneath the shoulder 28, the

depressing force of the foot may then be released and as can readily be seen the lever -18 will be held in its lowermost position by the same is free to rise by the impelling force of the spring 15. It can readily be seen that to depress the lever 18 to a position beneath the projection 29, lost motion must be provided in the connecting mechanism between place.

the lever. and the seat. By the provision of the slot 22 in the downwardly projecting,

end 21 of the lug 20, said lost motion takes It is believed that the operation of this device will be readily apparent to any one skilled in the art..

To permit lateral motion of the lever 18, said lever may be connected to the shaft 12 by means of the pin 80. By this arrangement it can readily be seen that limited lat- V eral motion of the lever sufficient to accommodate its passage beneath the projection 29 is provided.

I am aware that modifications of the retaining means herein described and embodied In addition, the provision of the lost mo tion may take any numberof forms other than the slot 22, consequently I do not wish to be limited to this specific construction. If

desired the shaft 12 may be subjected to the forces counteracting springs not shown which may permit the raising and lowering of the seat 7 to be accomplished by the manual raising or depressing of the lever 18. By this construction it is obvious that the seat 7 may be made to occupy any desired position between its extreme raised position and its horizontal position. Further, a lever such as that shown at 31 in Fig. 6 may be utilized wherein the fulcrum or the point of contact betweenthe lever and the shaft 12 would be intermediate the length of the lever. By the use of a lever. of this type the seat 7 would be normally maintained in its horizontal or lowered position and to raise the same the pedal 32 of the lever 31 may be depressed and the upper surface of the lever engaged by the shoulder 28. to maintain the seat 7 in upraised position.-

It is apparent that herein is provided raised position and its extreme lowered po-" sition. I

I claim as my invention:

7 1. In a toilet seat swinging device comprising in combination, a housing, a shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, means in said housing for rotating said shaft, a lever mounted upon said shaft, means connecting said lever and a toilet seat to swing said seat upon rotation of said shaft, and means for retaining said lever in a predetermined angular position against the force of the shaft rotating means. 7

2. A toilet seat swinging device comprising in combination, a housing, a shaft mounted in said housing, resilient means for rotating said shaft, a lever mounted upon said shaft, means connecting said lever and a toilet seat and meansfor positively locking said lever in a predetermined position with respect to said housing.

3. A toilet seat swinging device comprising in combination, a housing, a shaft mounted in said housing, resilient means within said housing for rotating said shaft, a lever ed in said housing, resilient means for rotating said shaft, a lever mounted upon said shaft, means connecting said lever and a toilet seat, said means comprising a link, a lug mounted on said toilet seat having an elongated slot, a pin upon said link associating said link and said lug in said slot, and means 5 for positively locking said lever in a predetermined position with respect to said housmg.

5. A toilet seat swinging device comprising' in combination, a housing, a shaft mount- 10 ed in said housing, resilient means for rotating said shaft, a lever mounted upon said shaft, means connecting said lever and a toilet seat and means for locking said lever in a predetermined position with respect to said 5 housing, comprising a guide plate provided with a slot in which said lever travels, and a shoulder provided adjacent said slot upon which said lever is adapted to rest in retained position. 20 In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH J. BUKOVITZ. 

